So Scared

T's husband called tonight around 8 p.m. and said T was en route to the hospital via ambulance. At that moment, he just said she'd had a big drop in temperature and that he'd call with more information as they knew more. On another call about 45 minutes later he said they'd arrived at the hospital, her temp in the ambulance was recorded at 94 degrees, her temp in the ER was 101, that her hands and feet were freezing while out at dinner yet her head was super hot, and that she didn't have any abdominal cramping. A text message a bit later said she was on her way up to labor and delivery for monitoring.

We don't know anything more right now and we are so scared... praying that T and little Caleb Ian are ok. This was supposed to be a good day. We finally did the baby registry after so much hemming and hawing. Did we jinx something by showing our happiness outwardly? It's nearly 1 a.m. and I am spinning in circles. My hands are shaking as I type this. I am so scared right now and my eyes and head are both tired from crying.

Babies are Falling from the Sky! - aka, Baby Showers!

"Hello! We're having a baby, please give us gifts."

Since I myself am not pregnant, I believe I can safely say this is the most uncomfortable part of the whole experience to date. It brings back PTSD memories of why I didn't want to tell people we were getting married because I didn't want a bridal shower. The attention placed upon the person of honor at these types of events is unnerving to me. Thankfully, my dear friends have put my mind to ease and told me a baby shower will have absolutely nothing to do with me. {sighhhhhhhhh} Unlike a bridal shower, where of course the bride is the center of attention, this one is about a little dude who has yet to make an appearance. There were many, many weeks in between oh.hell.no and ugh.i.don't.know and this.will.be.fun!

There is a lot to celebrate - plenty to be thankful for.

3D Ultrasound Coolness

Nothing much to say, other than we've confirmed for the second time he's a boy and there's only one baby in there! (My friends Cindi and Phil and the people who know their story are probably snickering right now...)

Here he is:

Most people who do 3D ultrasounds don't do them until 30+ weeks, but since T was in SoCal, we decided to do one last Friday - just 2 days shy of 26 weeks. He is just starting to fill out but he's already got some pinchable cheeks and 2" feet :)

Houston, We Have a Name!

This whole baby naming thing is serious business! I mean, we're basically setting the stage for a lifetime. We didn't want it to be a here-today-gone-tomorrow moniker, didn't want it to sound like a name of yesteryear, but also didn't want it to be a top 10 everyone-has-it kind of name. Still on the "didn't want" list... something too juvenile or silly for an adult male.

I'll shorten the wait... this l'il guy will be named:

Caleb Ian

Here are the facts:

Caleb - Arabic origin meaning bold, brave

Ian - Irish origin meaning "God's gracious gift"

Iterations we seriously considered included Ian Kenneth (my grandpa and Paul's foster grandpa was/is Kenneth), Caleb Kenneth and Caleb Bryce.

If Caleb were a girl, his name would have been Lila Colbie. Incidentally, I had Lilah picked out for a girl's name years ago, and Paul's grandma's name is Lila (no "h" at the end)... so that was a no-brainer for us.

We were pretty sure Ian would be mispronounced by too many as "Eye-An" - and after a life of "Joan" instead of "Jo-Ann" for me, I don't want my kid to have to correct people so often. (Side rant: nobody else in my family has that problem! Who mispronounces Jay, Judy, Karen, or Daniel??!)

It was also thought that Ian would certainly become "peein' Ian" at some point on the playground, so we tried to stay away from that. On the other hand, Caleb could become "Gay-leb", but with all the popular Aiden ("Gay-den") and Kaiden (again, "Gay-den") names right now, maybe that'll just be too common to be funny.

We've yelled it several times in the house to make sure it flows when he's in trouble. Sounds good when we're fake mad!

Finally, if you say his first and middle name scrunched together, it sounds like a drunk person saying Caribbean. Try it :)

Stupid Sayings

I really don't like that whole "things happen for a reason" saying. Yes, yes, yes, it's all part of a bigger plan that I am too pea-minded to understand and too much a simpleton to possibly grasp.

"It was [or wasn't] meant to be." Profound. Not.

To people who say "just relax": please provide your script to me for the Xanax, Percocet or Valium you're taking. When you take the good stuff, you must share.

Alas, I've actually heard these exact and most annoying phrases leaping from my own mouth. I try to push the words back in as I realize they're making their debut... but my foot follows too slowly. I hate that!

Where did October go?

We are officially 24 weeks today! How did we get this far so fast? Where did October go? Rhetorical question since I know where it went: I dedicated the month to my job, of course. Work has been hellish busy and stressful lately, and I can't help but think how different my schedule - my availability - will be after the baby is here. There will be no 12-16 hour days on a regular basis.

Sorry, Job. I know I set a kid-less precedent for 11 years. I put in lots of time, worked crazy hours, and did pretty much anything you asked of me. Now, it's time for me to move on to bigger and better things. I hope you support me in my big transition like I've supported you for the last decade!

Thinking Baby's Room

Let me start by saying Paul is the artistic (not autistic - that's me and an entirely different non-existent blog) one in our marriage. I like crafting, but wouldn't call myself particularly artsy. So when talking about the baby's room (that is now his office and our storage room/guest room) this afternoon's banter went something like:

Me: Have you thought more about what you want to do in the nursery?
Him: Yes
Me: Willing to share?
Him: I was thinking about a 3D design with a supporting mural (not his words, but that was the idea)
Me: 3D huh?
Him: [explains things that are more than just paint on the wall]
Me: So you would do the building and enlist my mom's help for some sewing? Hmmm. That sounds interesting honey. [<<< that's me being supportive!]
Him: It would be totally easy
Me: [laughing on the inside, thinking about Tim Allen's character on Home Improvement, knowing he'll certainly go above and beyond] Ok. Hey, just wondering, who will dust it?
Him: What?
Me: Yeah, 3D stuff sticks out so it will inevitably collect dust. I was just wondering who was going to clean it.
Him: [funny cute smile that said "Hey, I'm just thinking about making this room bad-ass. That's a different problem entirely!"] Ummmmmmm....

I can't wait for mid-December to be here. Paul will be done with school and we can start working on the room. I'm not even sure I want to decorate the house inside or out for Christmas... seems like that will take precious time away from our time to focus on getting ready for Baby. After all, I'll be leaving for Northern CA in the beginning of February and he'll be following shortly after so we'll only have 6-7 weeks to pull it all together. Plenty of time if you don't factor in Christmas and New Year's crappola. Excited nonetheless!